Stocks and Bonds: Scripophily

kaparthy · Sep 10, 2010

mmarotta;989256 said:

These large, ornate paper documents are the stuff of enterprise. They speak of the history of commerce and invention. Some are issued at par value; most are not. Bonds paid interest, sometimes in gold. Common stock comes with voting rights; preferred stock usually does not.

Of course, in addition to a myriad of small and unknown firms that flashed through the firmament of the marketplace, famous old companies are easily available as well: the Erie Railroad; American Tobacco; Boston Edison and Detroit Edison; Pan American Airways.

In addition to the issuing company, the names of the stockbrokers roll off your tongue: Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner and Smith; Kidder Peabody; W. E. Hutton; Paine Webber, Jackson, and Curtis; Bear Stearns; Lehman Brothers; ...

And then there are the endorsements of the owners. Occasionally you can find the names of famous people and not-so-famous, depending on how much history, politics, literature, and art you know by name.

The terms on the back -- the small print -- also speak volumes about the roots of our commercial law. Stocks and bonds are owned like land: Tenants in Common; tenants by entireties; joint tenants with rights of survivorship but not as tenants in common; custodian for a minor.

Most have vignettes, though many utilitarian ones do not. Like famous names, nice art is always appreciated. Muscular gods and chesty goddesses are run of the mill.

But always, there was the risk. Thomas Caldecot Chubb, the great insurance capitalist said, "If there were no losses, there would be no premiums." I have some that were cashed out before Black Thursday 1929 and some that were bought in 1930. I have one owned legally by a woman thirty years before she was allowed to vote -- and her bond paid off. On the other hand, the Romanian Government promised to pay out in British gold at London or New York, but the Germans changed the terms of the agreement when they overran Roumania before the bond was paid off. I have the New York Central and I have the Pennsylvania and I have the Penn Central, canceled by Amtrak.

Speaking of the Pennsylvania, a common theme is the Monopoly Set: Pennsylvania, B & O, Reading, and Short Line. The Short Line is the key to the series.

RESOURCES
Professional Scripophily Traders at http://www.psta.com

Near-mirror sites both operated by Bob Kerstein
Scripophily dot net
and
Scripophily dot com

The International Bond and Share Society of Ashtead, Surrey, England
http://www.scripophily.org

The work of Terry Cox, author of Collectible Stocks and Bonds from North American Railroads.

Numistoria SARL of Paris, France, stores a broad range of informative essays from the IBSS Scripophily quarterly

The New York Stock Exchange supports history and education with dropdowns on the lefthand side of the homepage under "About us."
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